An: stock rar comes from another story called Sweet Revenge by Girl Who Writes. Read it and you will understand it.
The dinner at Life Café was even more fun than she could even imagine. The last time she had even seen a chugging competition was in high school, at a jazz band party between the trombone, trumpet and conductors son and even then it was non-alcoholic. If only the C.S. could go against Roger, it would be a battle to the bloody end. There was more than just the apartment group; there were people Leah had never even seen before.
One thing was for certain was that they all were Bohemian. They all had this way about them that was so unusual for her. Drinking was for sport amongst them, not the forget-the-week drinking that she was used to. True at college often kegers were thrown but that didn't mean that she ever attended them. Seeing a bunch of frat boys getting drunk, or stoned, or whatever the case may be was not something that she wanted to remember from her college experience.
And they treated everything differently, like it might be the last time. She had heard the 'live every day as your last speech' for as long as she could remember, but she had never seen it so exemplified in any one as she had seen among these people. Throughout the entire experience she kept stealing glances at Mark, he didn't seem much like them. While they honestly could have less a care in the world, his brows were furrowed like normal.
As the night progressed a whole passel of beepers went off and almost every one took some medication. Staying with Mimi taught her that it was AZT. Looking around she noticed that only a few people didn't take it, Mark and she being among them.
Mark seemed to be distanced from the entire event like he was watching it on TV. He didn't get drunk, or eat the tofu (of course neither did she, but growing up around a hippie aunt had taught her the very few ways tofu could be enjoyed and the menu had none of them) When jokes went around about the president, the mayor, and the prime minister (only one guy told that, but every one laughed) his laughter was delayed, and he never told one. His smile was forced to the point that even Roger noticed; his solution of course was another round of beer.
On the way home she was captured by Roger and was educated (not for the last time) about what part of the sole went into playing the guitar. When they got back to the apartments both girls sat down on the couch, recalling the night. Mimi told her about once, when Angel was alive, how the danced and actually sang on top of the tables. It was before the Virtual Recording studio was built, and how it was all in celebration of the failed protest against it.
"I had never seen every one as happy as they were then. Everybody forgot the whole world. We just were in that moment."
"Even Tom and Mark?"
"Especially those two. They are both so serious, except then, and when. Well never mind"
"What?"
"Just, well the crowd you see has shrunk, a lot. Benny was right. Bohemia is dying."
"Why?"
"I don't know, but your Calcutta is winning."
"My Calcutta?"
"You know, business, enterprise, corporate world. Calcutta."
"I am business?"
"Yea. Artist and individuals are shrinking and dieing out."
"Oh."
They talked for the rest of the night, about everything and absolutely nothing at all. They talked about how stupid the President really was, who had died, and who was dieing. Leah used her skill by keeping the subject away from her past, an area that she had a lot of practice in. Until Mimi went straight at it.
"Why are you here?"
"I was kind of homeless, I needed a place for the summer at least."
"That's not what I meant. You aren't bohemian. You're not even eastern. And you take business classes for Christ sake. You really don't belong here."
"I wasn't always business. You know."
"Really? What were you then?"
"I painted."
"Like paintings paint? Or house paint?"
"Murals, Portraits, that sort of thing. I majored in Art for one semester then I moved out here."
"Were you good?"
"I don't know, I guess."
"Then why did you quit?"
"Lets just say my muse died."
"Oh. Did I tell you the time when the costume shop closed down?"
"No. What happened?"
"Well Collins had a new bag of stuff, and me and Maureen-"
"Maureen and I."
"Right. Maureen and I bought a whole lot of the costumes and the stoli and joints were passed around…"
It was four a.m. when the two girls went to sleep, Mimi excited about the new information gleamed from Leah. And Leah content that she avoided the subject again, also wondering if Roger remembered wanting to be a stock rar.